FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Brooklyn Gang Member Sentenced to 37 Years to Life in Prison
For Killing Teenage Girl, Injuring another Man in Separate Shootings

Defendant Apprehended Following Police Foot Chase, Admitted Role in Each Shooting

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 22-year-old man was sentenced to 37 years to life in prison for a revenge shooting spree – spanning two Brooklyn neighborhoods – that took a teenager’s life and seriously wounded another man. The defendant was apprehended following a police chase after he shot into a crowded Brownsville courtyard.

Acting District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said, “This defendant’s decision to seek revenge had tragic consequences for two innocent people, costing a young woman her life and causing another man serious injury. These shootings were acts of gang violence, fueled by gang violence. With today’s sentence, at least one participant in this vicious cycle will be off the streets for many years to come.”

The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Clayton Gravenhise, 22, of Brooklyn. He was sentenced today to 37 years to life in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John Ingram. The sentence includes 24 years to life for the defendant’s second-degree murder conviction plus 13 years, to run consecutively, for the first-degree attempted assault conviction. The defendant was also sentenced to 13 years for each of two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, to run concurrent to the murder and attempted assault. The defendant was convicted following a jury trial earlier this month.

The Acting District Attorney said that, on July 13, 2014, at approximately 1:23 a.m., the defendant repeatedly shot Ubequeen Turner, 17, in the head, chest, back, buttocks and arm as she stood on the sidewalk in the vicinity of Quincy Street and Marcy Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, according to trial testimony. She died as a result of her injuries. The defendant later admitted that he shot the victim because she was related to a man the defendant believed killed his brother earlier that month.

Furthermore, on November 11, 2014 – the defendant’s brother’s birthday – at approximately 10:49 p.m., the defendant drove with others to Brownsville, Brooklyn with the intent of continuing his revenge plot. Upon approaching a crowded residential courtyard on Lott Avenue near Mother Gaston Boulevard, passengers exited the defendant’s car and opened fire into the crowd, according to trial testimony. A 32-year-old man was struck in the back and survived his injuries; the bullet still remains lodged in his body.

According to trial testimony, the defendant was apprehended fleeing the Brownsville courtyard shooting after engaging police officers, first in a vehicle pursuit and then on a foot chase, until he was caught.

The defendant, a member of the HoodStarz street gang, later admitted to his role in both shooting incidents and told investigators of his revenge motives.

The case was investigated by New York City Police Department Brooklyn North Homicide Squad, the 79th Precinct Squad and the 73rd Precinct Squad.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Bernarda Villalona, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Stephen Shuovsky, of the District Attorney’s Orange Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Timothy Gough, Homicide Bureau Chief.